The Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University is excited to announce the inaugural lecture of its new series on Climate Change and Muslim Societies: 

Climate Change and Muslim Societies: Examples from Africa and Asia

Thursday, March 2, 2023 | 4-5:30pm | Sackler Lecture Hall, 485 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138

Elfatih Eltahir, H.M. King Bhumibol Professor of Hydrology and Climate, MIT

Co-sponsors: Center for International Development at Harvard University and Harvard University Center for the Environment 

Just like in other societies around the world, climate change will have significant impacts on Muslim societies. In this talk, Professor Eltahir will offer specific examples from Asia and Africa to illustrate how these impacts would affect, to varying degrees, important processes that shape economy, culture, and life. He will discuss case studies ranging from water availability in the Nile basin, transmission of malaria in villages of Niger, to heatwaves in crowded cities of South Asia, and outdoor conditions during the Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj. A common theme that emerges from these studies is how understanding natural phenomena as well as the current societal context is critical for accurately projecting future climate conditions at local scales.